A Champion In and Out of the Ring
Empathy is the ability to understand the emotional state of others and it is not limited to human beings. Horses also respond to the emotions of their rider as 16-year-old Rolling Hills resident Emma Post understands intuitively. Post and her beloved horse Marley are celebrating their remarkable partnership and an incredible 2022 season.
Post, and her 13-year-old Hanoverian horse, Won Love (or Marley as he is known around the barn) have officially been named Horse of the Year by the United States Equestrian Association for 2022 in the 3’3” Large Junior Hunter U15 division. The dynamic pair also earned the Horse of the Year title from the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA). They capped the year off by winning the 3’3” Junior Hunter National Championship at the USHJA National Championships in Las Vegas.
Post competes in shows nationally, works with elite trainers, travels extensively for horse shows and competitions, and spends endless hours at the barn and in the ring caring for and training her horses.
“Training both Marley and (her equitation horse,) Heartbeat Z takes time, but it’s always fun. The hours both in and out of the ring are important. If it means that my horses and I can perform at our very best I will continue to give this all my time. I started riding ponies when I was seven years old, and I can’t imagine my life without horses,” Post says.
Post competed in twenty shows with impressive consistency last year, winning show Championship nine times and being Reserve Champion four times in her division. “Emma is a very determined and competitive rider. We are proud of how hard she works,” remarks her trainers Michael and Christa Endicott of Pegasus Show Stables in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
Her local trainer Judy Martin of Highland Farms at Palos Verdes Stables has trained champions for more than fifty years and believes there is something special about Post, “Hard work is the key to her success. She came to us just three years ago as a novice rider. Her accomplishments in 2022 were outstanding.”
A junior honor student at Palos Verdes High School, Post enjoys spending time with her sisters and friends when she isn’t training. Emma, who is in her junior year in high school, lives in Rolling Hills with her mother Colleen, her father John, and her two older sisters who are both in college. Rachel is in her second year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Abby is a freshman at Texas Christian University. Emma is a Ticktocker who enjoys working at the Ticktocker thrift shop and volunteering with other philanthropies including Manes for Movement.
As the 2023 show season quickly approaches Post is committed to her rigorous training routine and excited and ready to take on new challenges in the ring.
